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God Forbid’s fourth full-length album IV: Constitution of Treason was released on September 20, 2005 by Century Media and peaked at #118 on the Billboard 200 music chart. Three music videos were made to support the album and many fans still point to this album as being their favorite within the GF discography. In 2008, a DVD titled Beneath the Scars of Glory and Progression was released that featured a live concert filmed in their home state of New Jersey full of songs from the Constitution album cycle as well as a documentary chronicling the history of the band to that point. The vinyl release for this album was a German/European limited edition picture disc released by Bastardized Recordings.

Personally, I love this album. It isn’t my favorite album the band released (Earthsblood holds that slot) but it is definitely up there with the best they have to offer. Filled to the brim with “classic” metalcore sounds and riffs, this album holds it’s own with any of the more established releases from that time period. It’s a concept album that doesn’t sound like a concept album and the story is about a future society that destroys itself, builds back up again, and then destroys itself again because it couldn’t learn from it’s own history. Written during the Bush political era, perhaps this album could be more relevant now than when it was released.

I was woefully ignorant of Buckner & Garcia before one fateful trip to Cincinnati in early 2009. I grew up on the tail-end of the 80s arcade revolution. Did I go to some video game arcades in my youth? Yeah, I did. Did I sit around with friends and pump quarters into the machines trying to get a high score? Nope. Not even close. I grew up with Nintendo and Sega dominating the landscape of digital gaming. Arcades were already a passing phase once I was old enough to really enjoy them so it’s no wonder that I hadn’t heard of Buckner & Garcia and their minor hit “Pac-Man Fever” before 2009.

Released in December 1981, the title track of the album steadily rose on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, finally reaching #9 in March of 1982. The single sold over 1.2 million copies by the end of 1982 and over 2.5 million copies by the end of 2008. That. Is. Ridiculous.

The album Pac-Man Fever was released in January of 1982 and went on to sell over 1.2 million copies by the end of 1982. That’s pretty impressive for an album made up of songs based around arcade games. We’re not talking about the highest form of music-making here. The songs are decent and sound effects from each respective game are present, which I suppose was pretty cool and probably one of the selling points of the album. It is, at the least, a fun bit of nostalgia to bring out and listen to once a year. It surely gets me hyped up to play some Frogger and Centipede whenever I listen to it.

*Note: I wrote this post last week but never got around to clicking “Publish” so now there will be two vinyl posts today. Whoops.

Nancy and I aren’t real big fans of Record Store Day. Well, I enjoy any day at the record store but one where all the creeps and hustlers come out of the woodwork to buy inferior releases at jacked-up prices really brings me down. Honestly though, my biggest gripe with RSD is more about the lack of Heavy Metal releases lately. A few years ago there were plenty of Metal albums being put out on RSD. I got Pantera, Jungle Rot, Machine Head, Slipknot and Gojira all in one year. ONE YEAR! Now, I understand that each year will have it’s own agenda and there may or may not be much Metal to choose from. I get it. I really do. But honestly, all these random reissues that end up in bargain bins and soundtracks to movies are beginning to clog up the vinyl production process for the whole world. It is also making it harder for the smaller labels and bands to get their stuff made for RSD or a regular album release. That’s a bummer to me. Couple that with the nutty prices that are set for these records and it is starting to just be no fun at all to be a part of. Regular vinyl releases are getting expensive. Let’s not make it so they are cost prohibitive on the one day that is supposed to be fun and extra supportive of the scene as a whole.

With all that being said, Naners and I ventured out a few days after RSD to see what scraps we could find left over. We really only wanted the Deftones record (kind of), Left Lane Cruiser and maybe the Atreyu best-of compilation. *I have a soft-spot for Atreyu, don’t judge. We hit up a couple stores and eventually stumbled upon Left Lane Cruiser and promptly snatched it up. We are both fans of this band and their down-and-dirty approach to the blues. The album is a compilation featuring old songs and a few unreleased that all feature their old drummer. Good stuff. I definitely recommend them for anyone who likes Scott H. Biram, RL Burnside or Junior Kimbrough.

We also received two albums in the mail this week. CKY’s Carver City and the “Familiar Realm” single. I saw someone selling them on Facebook and I made it happen. I love Carver City and I haven’t seen a copy for sale in a long time, especially not for under $100. Naners tried to get the “Familiar Realm” single a few months ago but she was denied when we moved a little too slowly for it. That song comes off of the CKY album An Answer Can Be Found. It’s a good song and the B-Side is “Deceit Is Striking Gold”, also a good track to jam to.

Anyway, we ordered the albums from a fella named Austin from Dallas, Texas. He bubbled wrapped them really well, tossed in a few goodies (signed CD booklet, some stickers, a bonus CD) and sent them our way. It cost us $90 but I’m not complaining. We split the price, I’m happy with our purchase and I am happy to help out a fellow fan of the once-mighty CKY.

Click the photo above to see an alternate, cleaner version of the shot.

Static-X’s 1999 album Wisconsin Death Trip is one of my all-time favorite nu-metal albums and it’s finally on vinyl courtesy of Music on Vinyl. If you aren’t really familiar with this album then you should be. Chances are that you’ve heard the song or seen the video for “Push It” but you don’t know who made the song. Characterized as “Evil Disco” by the band’s frontman Wayne Static, this album is equal parts weird, melodic, fast and heavy. I dig it the most.

I have two pretty good memories of this album. The first is from the winter of ’99. My main man T-Bubbs got the CD from his parents for Christmas. We listened to it a whole lot that winter. Lots of days and nights just sitting in the upstairs of his house cranking the CD to the max. I liked it so much I even ended up going out and buying the digipack single for “Push It”. CD singles. Ha! What a relic of past times (for most people). The second memory I have of Static-X is seeing them live at Ozzfest 2007. T-Bubbs is actually present in this story as well. Weird. Anyway, we weren’t expecting much out of Static-X in a live setting but we were completely blown away with how fantastic they sounded. I don’t know if it was just the perfect day/setting for them but it was awesome. Lots of energy, HUGE thumping bass and lots of Wayne Static bobbing his head back and forth while playing guitar and singing. A very fond memory of simpler times.

Sadly, Static-X fell apart in 2009, was reformed in 2012 and then frontman Wayne Static died in 2014. No more Static-X. That’s a real bummer for me. I always looked forward to whatever they were putting out. It may not have always been as fun, unique or good as their first few albums but I did still enjoy it.

Now, onto the artwork. The art contained in this release looks like the 90’s action-sports culture. Picture skateboarding/BMX/snowboarding graphics in your mind and this album fits right in with it. I swear it’s like looking through a CCS, Mongoose Bikes and any other outlying-sport’s catalog. I love it. Big, bold colors and type. Lots of texture. Odd photo treatments. It perfectly fits the band and the times.

Bucking the trend of rock & metal releases that I normally showcase here, I decided to go with a fantastic little rap ditty from Game.

The Documentary is Game’s (formerly The Game) first major-label album and was released on Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Universal. Game is from Compton, California and this album has that fantastic West Coast vibe all over it. It just reaks of sunny days and drive-by shootings. Dr. Dre helped produce the album and other notable rappers such as 50 Cent, Eminem and Busta Rhymes are featured on the album.